Peace

Episcopal Peace Fellowship

When I was in college, I had this button pinned on my backpack.  The logo is that of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF), a group that started following the first World War as the Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship.  The tag line, “Peace is the Church’s Business” is genius.

Now, if you don’t already know, I spent a whole lot of time researching the Episcopal Peace Fellowship while I was in seminary.  Right now, I would classify myself as a “friend of the EPF.”  I’m not quite all the way there, and here’s why I can’t quite make the plunge and sign on the dotted line.

Peace, without exception, comes from God alone.  Peace cannot be manufactured by protests, peace cannot be enforced by strength.  As humans, acting alone, if we attempt to create peace we find that we have created a new Tower of Babel.

Peace is simply God’s kingdom come to earth.  All too often, I believe, EPF and other well-meaning Christian groups advocate for a kind of established peace, something that can be built through cooperation and tolerance.  But peace is not built, like love and blessings it is freely given.

No, Peace is not the Church’s business.  The Peace of God is the Church’s business.

The Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen.